Into Your Hurricane
by loseriffic
Summary: there's a new mutant to join the recruit, and kurt finally feels like he has someone to relate to. only one problem: she's a suicidal schizophrenic and hates pretty much everyone. rated for language and violence. EVENTUAL KURT ROMANCE
1. You Make Me Break

The house was completely deserted. The open windows and well kept-ness of its exterior would suggest that it had inhabitants, but the scent of old stated otherwise. She could smell it as she walked through the black iron gates. It was swung wide open, almost expectantly. The thought that someone could even be in there barely brushed against her mind as she looked over her shoulder. Her breath came quick; they were following her. They had been following her for days and hadn't shown themselves until earlier that day.  
  
She had been in the mall with her best friend Riley. She had said she would be right back; all she wanted to do was go buy them some ice cream. As she left though, she who was left behind had the growing feeling of sickness in her stomach. She felt like she was being watched. She had only been gone for a few minutes when she started having another one of her mild panic attacks. When her pulse would beat faster and faster and her mind would make her see everyone turning to watch her. Then it started happening. She would feel two burning holes in her back, on either side of her head, and one on her tailbone. She felt her skin start pulling; she never could keep it under control. It had been happening a lot more lately, and it was now to a point where it just started whenever.  
  
She should have told Riley; it never would have happened if she had said that they were following her. They were dangerous, and she shouldn't have had anything to do with them. She wanted to save her, even though she knew it was too late.  
  
Come on Riley, she had said as she ran up to her waiting in line. We need to go.  
  
Her big brown eyes asked her what was going on; they hadn't even gotten their ice cream yet. But she didn't say anything. And that was when she saw them. She saw her inhuman mutation start. All she had to have done was tell Riley that she was.that she wasn't a human.  
  
The police were out everywhere looking for mutants after recent attacks by some of the lesser good kind. They stereotyped and assumed they were all like that. And they had been suspiciously watching her all this time, not bothering to tell her parents. But she hadn't told them either, so it was just as much her fault, she supposed.  
  
Riley was staring at her in utter shock. She was inhuman now. Her horrible, ugly little batwings were back. And so were her horns and her stupid tail. Her ears had always been un-naturally pointed, but she told everyone that was just a defect she was born with. But the look in Riley's eyes showed that she was suddenly adding things all up. And as she stared at her in horror, she felt like a mannequin wearing a devil's costume on display. She was just standing there for everyone's eyes of repulsion to stare and point at, as more and more people noticed her sudden change in appearance. Some panicked. Some screamed and ran, and others just stared in awe.  
  
Then she heard one of their voices: the police. The men in the blue suits that had been following her around for the past few weeks, stalking her and gaining more and more information that lead to her being a mutant.  
  
Riley, we need to go, she cried.  
  
Her friend only stared in horror. She didn't blame her; her best friend had just unwillingly exposed her horrible secret in front of an entire mall, and now a dozen or more police officers were surrounding them.  
  
They pulled out their guns and shouted things at her, but all she did was tell Riley that they needed to leave. She cursed herself for even trying to talk her into running away from twelve policemen aiming guns at them. All she did was stare back.  
  
And that was when it happened.  
  
The stupid, young policemen accidentally shot off his gun. And it hit Riley right through the middle of her back. Screams echoed at the sound of the gunshot, and every witness dropped down onto the floor. Riley gasped fell forward onto the marble floor, and in seconds she was gone.  
  
Gone.  
  
She the mutant watched in horror as her friend faded from her. The policemen kept shouting orders at her, but she couldn't hear anything. She looked down at Riley's body, and slowly lifted her eyes up to them. The eyes those were full of hate, scorn, anger, and revenge. . . eyes of the girl who had just lost her best friend. The policemen shouting at her noticeably grew more nervous and shifted his gun in his hands. Then, all hell broke loose.  
  
She leaped high into the air, over the police, and they started firing at her. She landed in front of a young couple amongst the crowd of other witnesses, and they screamed and ran out of the way. Simultaneously, all the other shoppers in the mall started screaming and she ran as fast as she could, past all of them. She knocked some people over, but she didn't have time to help them.  
  
Then, a random shopper about twice her size pushed her over, attempting to help the policemen. He stood over her, calling for someone to come get her. She quickly sat up and scratched at his arm in a mad attempt to get him away from her, and he screamed as if it hurt greatly. She glanced down at her nails and saw that they were now more like claws, and realized that she had cut into his flesh. She let out a cry and just keep running, destination unknown.  
  
She had run past all the people on the street, and they gasped or screamed at her appearance. Down, down, down into the suburbs. Eventually, a helicopter was chasing her as well, trying to spotlight her in the dark. She finally reached a wood and ran inside without hesitance, and the helicopter stopped before it. They wouldn't be able to see her for the trees.  
  
Running, faster and faster and faster, branches cutting into her, stumbling and tripping over roots. It became unbelievably dark, but she kept going, praying that she wouldn't run into anything to terrible. Finally, she came out on the other side, having no idea where she was. Somewhere in a town, and then she saw the seemingly vacant house before her. And that's where she was now.  
  
Turning around, she made sure that she had lost the officers. She could see the light from the helicopter far off in the distance, and deciding not to take any chances, stepped inside the gate. She walked up the cracking sidewalk, around the house once to check for lights, and then finally slipped in through the back door.  
  
+ + +  
  
The girl climbed unsteadily into the house. She had to escape! Lightning flashed outside, causing her to jump a little, and she hurried inside. The roll of thunder made things seem even uneasier as she slowly walked through the house's interior. Everything seemed so dark, until the lightning flashed and for a brief moment she was able to see where she was walking.  
  
"Hello. . .?" she called, "Is anyone here?"  
  
She received no answer. Still, she took slow, steady paces to the end of the hall. There had to be a light switch somewhere. This whole stopping- every-two-seconds-to-wait-for-a-flash-of-lightning-to-be-able-to-see thing just wasn't working out. Suddenly, from down the hall where she used to be, something fell onto the floor with a loud bang. She spun around and gasped, backing up against the wall in fear. Suddenly. . .  
  
*BAMF!* "HEY GUYS!! HOW MUCH DID I MISS?"  
  
The unexpected interruption to their movie caused Kitty, Jean, Scott and Rogue all to scream and jump out of their skins. Kitty slammed a pillow over her head, Rogue grabbed onto hers and would have been suffocating it- had it any lungs-and Jean and Scott latched onto each other for dear life.  
  
"Jesus Christ!" Jean shouted, and they turned around to see none other than Kurt standing behind them with a bowl of popcorn in hand and a confused look on his face.  
  
They all heaved an agitated sigh and Rogue tossed her pillow behind the couch. "Kurt, you really are the annoying little brother figure in this household." Her southern accent was filled with annoyance as she slumped down in her seat and rested her cheek on her fist.  
  
She was right though; Kurt seemed to be the happy-go-lucky character in the school they were staying in. The Xavier Institute for the Gifted, to be exact. A school for mutants to come to and learn to control the powers they have received and use them for good. It was also, the home of the infamous X Men: a somewhat small force of mutants that were actually sent out onto missions to use their powers to protect humans and mutants alike. Of course, nearly everyone but the students and professors knew the institute as just a regular school.  
  
Scott grabbed the remote and put the movie on pause, his face trying to hide his aggravation. Kurt ignored her comment and scuttled around the couch and resumed at his seat between Kitty and Jean.  
  
"You could have just walked back in here, you know. The kitchen is the next room over." Jean announced, moving further away from him. They had sent him to go get more popcorn as they continued to watch the horror movie, because he had seen it before.  
  
"I know, but it's so much more fun that way!" he replied happily in his thick German accent. "Besides, how many times do you need to see some girl run around in sluttish clothing and scream at the top of her lungs?"  
  
Rogue gave a silent agreement on the clothing.  
  
"Like, hence the title Scream!" Kitty said, shoving the movie case in front of his nose. He sighed and flicked a piece of his blue hair out of his eyes, made himself comfortable, and started eating most of the popcorn. Again. Scott shook his head and pressed the rewind and play button, and the movie resumed.  
  
A few moments later, Logan came down the stairs and passed by the living room. He was putting his riding gloves on for his motorcycle.  
  
"Where are you going?" Scott asked immediately. He backed up to the doorway and stopped, fixing his last glove.  
  
"Xavier's found another mutant with Cerebro," he said casually, "Seems like the cops have found her. Sent me to go fetch." A small smile crept across his face as the others immediately asked if they could go; he had been expecting it.  
  
Kitty stood up and stretched. "We've been stuck in this house all day with like nothing to do. This actually sounds, like, entertaining at the moment."  
  
"Yeah, please let us go, Professor Logan?" Kurt begged, getting down on his knees.  
  
The Professor chuckled to himself and nodded. "No need to suit up this time. Don't wanna draw too much attention."  
  
"Score!" Kurt exclaimed, putting his hand into a fist and bringing it to his side. They all hurried into the rather large garage-hidden, of course, from the outside-where all the cars and even a jet were parked. As they were driving, Logan gave them the 'lecture.'  
  
"There's going to be cops on our tails, so you have to watch your back. If you don't have to, don't attack them, do you understand? We can't let them on to why we're there. I'm going to go in first."  
  
There was a moan from the younger passengers in the car, but he kept talking. "I don't wanna hear it. I'm going in there first, and if I need help, you'll know. You'll hear gunfire."  
  
He pulled to a stop on a suburb street, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Down the road they could see police cars and their flashing lights. They were parked outside what appeared to be an abandoned house, and some of the officers had their guns drawn and ready. Even a helicopter was flying overhead, shining a spotlight down onto the house. There was an awkward silence in the back and passenger seats of the car; things always got more complicated when a lot of police officers were involved.  
  
"See what I mean?" Logan said, heaving a sigh and getting out of the car. He slowly slipped around in the shadows and made his way towards the house.  
  
"I give him five minutes." Kurt said, folding his arms and kicking up his feet.  
  
"Ten!" Scott immediately said, who had a lot of faith in Logan.  
  
Kurt gave him a challenging look and then grinned. "You're on."  
  
The girls in the car all sighed and shook their heads, mumbling about how immature and bigheaded boys could be. Sure enough, about five minutes later, the first gunshot went off. They quickly exchanged glances before Kurt thrust his arms up in the air victoriously.  
  
"Ha! Scoreboard: Blue Elf one, Scott nothing! I told you, never bet with a German!"  
  
Scott looked at him in disbelief. "Dude, no you didn't."  
  
He folded his arms and turned his head to the side. "Well, I was thinking it," he said, sticking his nose up snobbishly.  
  
The girls were already piling out of the car and running towards the house just as Logan did. Scott-although now that they were going to battle, he went by Cyclops-and Kurt, now Nightcrawler, went to chase after them.  
  
Upon reaching the house, they were shocked to see bodies lying face down on the ground. Apparently Logan had gone off on them worse than they had expected. They quickly ran inside the house and found even more bodies lying around, and blood all over the walls. That's when they were beginning to get nervous.  
  
"Logan?" Shadowcat called, and phased through a wall. After a moment, she came back into the hall where the others stood and shook her head. "He's not anywhere."  
  
Jean looked down the opposite direction. "We didn't look down here. Come on."  
  
They made their way down the hall, trying to be as quiet as possible. But they didn't even hear any more gunshots; they had only heard the one from when they were in the car waiting. Which could either be a good thing, or a bad thing.  
  
Finally, they turned around a corner and saw Wolverine standing with his back to them, breathing hard.  
  
Rogue gasped. "There you are! Are you alright?"  
  
He didn't say anything, and they followed his gaze down to the floor. There was a body lying there that had been completely mangled, and a rather large pool of blood was underneath them. They also had two bite marks on their neck, almost as if a vampire had gotten to them. Shadowcat cringed and turned her head, but the others just stared.  
  
"Wolverine. . .did you. . .?" Cyclops started, but Logan shook his head.  
  
"She did," he said, pointing his iron claws at the wall. They all stepped from around him to get a better look and saw a girl huddled up in the corner just past the body. She was hiding her face in her knees, but they could still see two foot-and-a-half long, bat-like wings protruding from her back, horns on the top of her head and a red tail similar to Kurt's wrapped around her leg. She looked up at them and they saw that she had blood dripping from the corner of her mouth and vampire looking teeth. Her hair was a neon-red, obviously dyed, and her eyes were a light, almost golden, honey-brown.  
  
"Three guesses where the new mutant is," Kurt mumbled to himself. 


	2. Demon In My View

"How is she, Ororo?" Professor Xavier asked, wheeling his chair around.  
  
She shook her head, her long white hair spilling over her shoulders. "I don't know. She's just been sitting there the past few days, staring out the window. She won't answer me when I ask her questions."  
  
"Did you at least get a name out of her?"  
  
She shook her head again, and the professor looked thoughtful. "Perhaps I should take a look at her."  
  
Ororo merely nodded and folded her arms, then followed him down to the room where the girl was staying. He reached for the handle and found that it was locked, and Ororo heaved a sigh. "Not again," she moaned.  
  
She tapped on the door. "Honey, you need to open the door," she said, throwing on her best sweet voice. It didn't disguise much of her irritation; she was usually very good with teenagers, but this one was on her last nerve. When she received no answer on the other side of the door, she let a whine escape her throat and sunk down onto her haunches, burying her face in her hands.  
  
The Professor looked down at her awkwardly, and she looked back up at him through her fingers with irritation. She stood up quickly and brought her fist back behind her head, ready to start pounding on the door, but someone grasped onto it from behind. She turned around and saw Logan standing behind her.  
  
"No need to intimidate her, Storm," he said, calling her by her X Men name. She heaved another sigh and he let go of her wrist, and then turned around. "Elf!" he called, seemingly shaking the whole house. Within seconds, a blue puff of smoke appeared before them.  
  
"Logan, I swear it wasn't my fault! See, Evan thought it would be funny to see if you really could hit two birds with one stone-"  
  
Xavier cut him off. "I would be silent and listen if I were you, before you land yourself into some more trouble."  
  
Kurt stopped, a look of confusion crossing his face as he turned back to Logan. The professor sighed. "Remember the girl we found?"  
  
He slowly nodded.  
  
"Well, she's in here, she hasn't been speaking for days, and now she won't unlock the door. Can you teleport in there, unlock it, and come back out?" he asked, pointing to the door.  
  
The boy with the bluish hair blinked his eyes. "Are you sure it's.safe?" he asked, lowering his voice so she couldn't hear him from through the door.  
  
Logan looked thoughtful. "Honestly, I have no idea."  
  
Right after he spoke, they heard crashing noises, like things being thrown to the ground and the sound of sheets and blankets ripping followed closely behind. Kurt gulped and looked towards the door. "Alright," he said finally, as his fears subsided. Within seconds he was gone in a puff of smoke.  
  
"Why didn't you just get Kitty to phase through the wall?" Ororo asked Logan. He shook his head. "Because I think she and Kurt have similar mutations, so he might not frighten her as much as another person would. Besides, Kitty's terrified of her. Ever since she saw what she did to that body she has it stuck in her head that she's some vicious killer."  
  
Xavier spoke up. "Well, isn't she?"  
  
They were all silent as they exchanged glances.  
  
Kurt had stopped and stared as soon as he got inside. The room was an absolute mess; the bed sheets were ripped to shreds and the pictures that were once on the wall were smashed on the ground. What disturbed him the most were the blood spots on the wall near the bed. He looked around and saw that she wasn't even there. He felt a breeze, and his eyes traveled to the window, and saw that it was thrown open.  
  
He quickly unlocked the door and then tapped on it, telling them to come in, and then ran to the window. The door opened from behind him and Logan and Ororo came in, and the woman gasped at what this girl had done to her room. No sooner than Kurt had reached the window, did the alarms from outside go off. He jumped out onto the roof and saw that she was trying to get out by climbing over the huge iron fence.  
  
"No, don't!" he cried; she wasn't aware of all the weapons that went off as soon as someone tried to break in through the gate. The alarm system didn't know the difference of breaking in or trying to leave, and it would fire no matter what.  
  
Logan reached the window first. "Kurt, go!" he shouted, trying to catch her before anything hit her. The red laser beams were already going off, and one hit the gate, right by her shoulder.  
  
Within seconds, Kurt was hanging on the fence next to the girl. He grabbed onto her lower arm and she turned to him with an angry fire in her eyes. And in a puff of blue smoke, he was back in her room in the institute. She hadn't been expecting to teleport, and toppled over onto the floor at the sudden change in scenery.  
  
Kurt was staring at his hand in shock. "Professors. . ." he said softly, and showed them his palm. It was covered in blood. They turned to the girl lying on the floor, breathing as if she was on life support. They looked at her left arm and saw that it had several cuts running diagonally up and down the inner side.  
  
"Ororo, get her to the infirmary," Xavier said.  
  
She looked at him like he was crazy, but then slowly put her hand out to help her. The girl narrowed her eyes into slits and scratched at her hand, cutting four small gashes into the back of it. Ororo gasped and drew her hand back, and the girl suddenly stopped looking so crazed. She sat up, looked at her surroundings, at her, her arm, everyone surrounding her, and a look of sudden realization and horror crossed over her face.  
  
"Oh God," they heard her whisper; the first time she had spoken since they found her. She looked up at them and then buried her face in her hands. They exchanged glances slowly, and Logan looked at Kurt, and nodded at the door.  
  
"Not a word to anyone," he whispered, and Kurt nodded and teleported out.  
  
+ + +  
  
Ororo had taken her to the infirmary after she had calmed down. She was silently bandaging up her arm, and they hadn't spoken since they got in there. She pressed a cotton ball up to her wounds, and she flinched.  
  
"Sorry," Ororo said quietly, "It's going to sting a little bit."  
  
The girl didn't nod or anything, in fact, she didn't even know if she had heard her or not. She seemed to be in deep thought. The white haired woman flicked her eyes at her, and took in another breath. "So, do you have a name?"  
  
"Maeve."  
  
Ororo nodded and smiled. "That's a nice name, it sounds Irish. Is it?" Maeve merely nodded her head, and Ororo kept talking. "My name is Ororo, but you can call me Storm too. Here, I'll show you."  
  
She went to the window and put hands up, and in seconds there were dark clouds covering the once completely blue sky. A flash of lightning shot down and she smiled contently to herself, and let her hands drop. The storm disappeared and the sky was blue once again.  
  
Ororo turned back to Maeve and smiled at her. "See? We're all like this here at Xavier. You have nothing to worry about any more. This place is completely secret. The government and anyone else who might try to get rid of the mutants knows it just a school for the gifted."  
  
Maeve didn't even say anything, and the weather witch began to grow impatient with her habit of not wanting to pay attention. There were another few minutes of uncomfortable silence, and Ororo decided to get her talking again.  
  
"Can I ask why you did this?" she asked, as she bandaged up her arm.  
  
She looked up at her, but didn't answer. Ororo kept talking. "You should feel secure now that you're at the Xavier institute. You can tell me."  
  
Her honey-brown eyes searched her face for a moment more, and then she looked down at the ground. "I was thirsty."  
  
Ororo nearly choked. "Thirsty?" she exclaimed. She looked down at her cuts. "You mean you were going to. . . you were going to drink. . ."  
  
"It's something I've been doing for a few years," Maeve said, lifting up her shirt. There were cuts all over her stomach, similar to the ones on her arms. "It came when I first got my. . . mutations."  
  
She looked at her in disbelief. "That's not healthy, especially cutting on your arms and wrists. Even though you wouldn't be thirsty any more, you could kill yourself like that."  
  
"I know."  
  
She stared again, and Maeve kept her gaze on the ground. "I was hoping for a win-win situation."  
  
+ + +  
  
Ororo, Logan and Xavier were standing in the hallway outside the infirmary. She was sent back to her room to get some rest; she had suffered a lot of blood loss.  
  
"I think if she's going to stay here, she's going to need some psychiatric help." Ororo had told them of what she experienced while putting on her bandages. "Before she can even join the X Men she needs to be able to control her habits."  
  
Logan folded his arms. "We don't offer any of that stuff here. We'd have to send her to a professional. And her little demon appearance ain't gonna make that easy."  
  
"I can just take a look into her mind and her past. I should be able to figure out what's wrong with her from there," Xavier said. "Ororo is right. She needs to be able to get professional help before she interacts with the students in battle. After I look into her she should be able to head back to school."  
  
"Should we at least introduce her to the other students?" Logan inquired, "It's not like they don't know she's here or anything. And we can't keep her locked up forever."  
  
Xavier nodded. "At dinner."  
  
+ + +  
  
It all came too fast before Ororo knocked on Maeve's door. No body answered, and after a few tries, he let himself in. She was sitting on her bed cross-legged just staring at the wall. Her fingers were gently tapping on the bandage that was on her left arm, and she had a blank look on her face.  
  
"Maeve, are you hungry?" she asked gently. "It's dinner time, and you haven't eaten anything for a few days now." She looked over at her, and after a few wordless moments, slowly stood up and followed her downstairs.  
  
The others were already at the dining room table, and Logan was quickly explaining what had happened to Maeve and how they were supposed to just treat her normally. Ororo entered the room with her close behind, and the other students immediately shut up. She was the only one there still in her mutant form, and they all noticed the bandage she had around her wrists.  
  
Kurt silently looked down at his palm where her blood had used to be. He clenched his fist and then looked back up as Ororo was introducing her.  
  
"Everyone, this is Maeve. Most of you are familiar with her, and she will be joining our institute. It'll be a while before she gets into school, and we need to get her a watch before she can be seen in public. But she's agreed to come down and eat with us for tonight, so be at your best to make her feel at home."  
  
She pulled out a chair for her to sit in, and Maeve sat down quietly. She didn't appear to be shy, just. . . well. . . she was acting like Rogue normally did. The dinner remained silent for a while, until they all just broke off into pairs of two or more and started talking. Maeve looked around the room. Kurt had made Kitty laugh while she was cutting her food, and the knife slipped in her hand. It cut a thin line along her index finger, and she let out a yelp.  
  
"Oh my God! I'm bleeding!" she exclaimed. Rogue mumbled something about it being a scratch, but kept her head down.  
  
So thirsty, Maeve thought, and fixed her eyes on Kitty. She felt Ororo and Logan's intense look on her as she continued to stare, but she didn't pay any mind. Kitty noticed her staring and was becoming a little self- conscious.  
  
"Maeve," Ororo said silently, and she snapped back into reality. She looked down at her plate that was completely empty. "You're going to have to change your eating and drinking habits, now that you're here."  
  
"What?" she said, looking absolutely traumatized.  
  
Kurt, who was seated next to her, shoved a cheeseburger in her face. "Here! Try one of these!"  
  
She rolled her eyes. "I have had one of these before, you know."  
  
He shrugged and took a big bite out of the burger, happily chewing away. At least she was speaking in complete sentences now, the majority of the other students decided. Maeve looked at him, down to her empty plate, and back at Kitty's little bit of blood on her finger. Kitty nervously put a strand of hair behind her ear, wondering why she was staring at her cut so intently.  
  
Finally, she stood up. "I'm going to go get this, like, bandaged up." And with that, she walked right through the wall behind her.  
  
The bloodthirsty one sighed and rested her chin on her fist. There goes my drink.  
  
"So, Maeve, what kind of powers do you have?" Scott asked, trying to strike up a conversation amongst the awkwardly silent dinner table. She looked around the room thoughtfully, and finally turned back to him.  
  
"It's not dark enough in here for me to show you what I can do."  
  
Evan nearly choked on his food. "Sweet!" he exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, his mind already in the gutter. Kurt burst out laughing, catching on to his sick joke, but Maeve only shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Dude, cut the lights!" Evan was rushing, eager to see just what she could do, although his idea was most likely very far from her actual abilities. Ororo walked to the switch and dimmed the lights a little, casting her nephew Evan a warning look for his perversion.  
  
Maeve looked around the room for a particularly dark corner. She sided with the one closest to Logan, it being the darkest, and turned to it. She raised her hand, palm facing towards the ceiling, and focused on the shadow. It slowly rose with her hand, and she pulled it back closer to her face. It followed her willingly, creeping along the wall and finally detaching itself. She moved her arm around in a circle, pointing to each of the others at the table. The shadow swept around them, circling them one at a time, brushing past their hair and around their shoulders and then leaving for the next. Some of them looked terrified. Logan looked unenthused. Rogue looked orgasmic at the darkness.  
  
Finally, she dropped her hand to her side and took her focus off the shadow. It flew back to its place on the corner and resumed as it was before she even touched it, just looking like a part of the room. They were silent for a while, until Evan breathed.  
  
"Nice."  
  
Maeve didn't say anything, but he kept talking. "Not what I was expecting, but nice."  
  
Ororo clenched onto her fork angrily. "Evan. . ."  
  
+ + +  
  
The next morning was a day for school, much to the students' dismay. They awoke early, and stumbled blindly into the kitchen in their search for food. Scott lurched into the room and sat down tiredly on the stool for the small bar-like table in the center of the room.  
  
"Whass fo breffask?" he slurred. Immediately after he finished his sentence, he did a face plant onto the hardwood counter and fell fast asleep.  
  
Jean pranced down the stairs, wide-awake and ready to take on the day as Miss America. She took a seat next to Scott and smiled to herself as he snored softly. She ruffled his hair.  
  
"Wake up, sweetie."  
  
He shot up, almost knocking her off her stool. "Eh? Eh?" He looked over and saw that it was she and relaxed. "Eh," he sighed. She giggled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Rogue rolled her eyes and decided that today would be the day to skip breakfast, and headed out the door. Kitty phased through a wall shortly after, trying to fix her ponytail.  
  
*BAMF!* "I'm so starved! It's already been three hours since I last ate!"  
  
The others silently wondered how he could stay up so late, and then wake up more energized than all of them put together. Kitty stood waiting by the door, until she heard a horn honk and smiled to herself. Kurt turned to her.  
  
"You are not riding with us today?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.  
  
"I'm getting a ride with Brad," she called over her shoulder.  
  
Kurt looked even more confused and a little jealous. "Brad? Who is Brad?" But Kitty was already out the door. He quietly walked to the window and drew back the curtain to see her bounding into some hotrod car. A guy with spiked-to-perfection blonde hair, an Abercrombie smile and a school jacket was at the driver's seat. She hopped in and he slung his arm around her and sped off. Kurt snorted to himself and turned around.  
  
The others were watching him with smiles on their faces. "What?" he exclaimed defensively, but they only shook their heads and kept eating.  
  
Soft feet padding on the floor sounded, and Maeve stepped into the room. She looked like she had been up all night. They grew silent as she stood before them for a moment, and then went to sit on the corner of the counter.  
  
"Uh, hey!" Scott and Evan finally said.  
  
She merely nodded at them as she folded her arms and brought her knees up. They looked at each other and then back to her.  
  
"Why are you up so early? You don't have to go to school."  
  
Kurt went to go sit down with them, a fairly large bowl of cereal in hand, and she looked at him. "His room is right next to mine and all his teleporting around woke me up."  
  
He paused for a moment, an open mouth and spoon inches before it, and quickly said 'sorry' before shoving the cereal in and chewing. Scott laughed to himself, and Jean stood up and went to put her bowl in the sink. Maeve was surprised to see how normal these people acted, even though they were in an institute for. . .mutants. She still wasn't comfortable with knowing she was one of them, partially because of what it had cost Riley. She wondered how her parents were dealing with that, and how her own were handling her disappearance.  
  
"Are you hungry? There's tons of food, assuming Kurt didn't get to all of it," Jean said, flicking her eyes at the blue-haired boy.  
  
Maeve looked at the floor. "I don't get hungry very much."  
  
Yeah, when you're not drinking blood, Jean thought, but kept her comments to herself. She only smiled and nodded at her. "Alright, well, help yourself whenever you decide you want to eat."  
  
They all went upstairs, except for Kurt, who was hurriedly shoveling cereal into his mouth. When he finished, he teleported to the sink-which was, mind you, only a few yards away from him to begin with-and put his bowl away. Then he teleported away, and she was left alone she was about to stand up, when he suddenly reappeared.  
  
"Smile!" he exclaimed, putting his index fingers on the corners of her mouth and stretching them. She narrowed her eyes and swatted at his hands.  
  
"Get your hands off of me!" she exclaimed, glaring at him.  
  
He looked hurt momentarily, but it quickly faded away. "Whoa, sorry, I was just trying to brighten your mood." He raised his hands in defense, but she just kept glaring at him.  
  
"See you after school!" he said, smiling from ear to ear. *BAMF!*  
  
He *wants* me to drill a hole through his head, she decided in thought. She angrily wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, as if he had somehow infected her. Mumbling to herself about overly optimistic mutants, she jumped down from off the counter and went to the fridge. Before she opened it, she paused and looked at the pictures that were held to the door by magnets. There were a few group shots, one of Jean and Scott, one of Logan, and one of Nightcrawler hanging from a tree branch by his tail.  
  
"He's quite a character, isn't he?"  
  
Maeve jumped at the sound of Professor Xavier's voice. For a brief moment she wondered how he had known what she was looking at, but then remembered that he could read her mind. That definately made things more uncomfortable. He came next to her, looking at the picture of Kurt and smiling. "He always feels like he needs to keep our spirits up."  
  
She didn't say anything, and after a brief moment, he turned to her. "Maeve, I'd like to look into your mind, if that's alright with you."  
  
The question seemed so sudden that she didn't really know what he meant. Judging the look on her face, he elaborated. "I need to know more about you, more about your past, and you don't seem to be very much of a talker. I think that it's the best way to learn about you, is that alright?"  
  
She nodded slightly, and he smiled. Of course, the real reason that he was looking into her mind was to see what was wrong with her and why she was so suicidal. But he didn't have the heart to tell her that. Not yet any way. He led her into the den and they sat down on a couch.  
  
"Now I just need you to relax and try to open up your mind. Don't think about anything."  
  
Maeve silently thought that those ideas were absurd; by trying to not think of anything, she would obviously have to be thinking. "Just close your eyes."  
  
She looked at him for a moment, and then did as he told her to. She felt his fingertips on her shoulder, giving her warning that he was going to touch her, and then he grasped her firmly. There was silence for a long, long time. She felt like something was running around in her mind, searching the deepest corners of her thoughts, and suddenly felt lightheaded.  
  
He let go of her arm and her eyes shot open. The room spun for a minute, but she eventually became un-dizzy. The professor smiled at her warmly and nodded.  
  
"Thank you for your cooperation, Maeve. You may go now. But I want you to know that eventually, I'll have to speak to you about this. I don't know how long it will be, but I'll be sure to get to you as soon as I speak with Logan and Ororo."  
  
Maeve nodded, and wondered why he needed to speak to the other professors about whatever he had just uncovered in her mind. Her thoughts were left unanswered as he continued. "Will it be alright with you if you start going to school in the next few days? It's required."  
  
She nodded again. "What about my parents?" she finally spoke.  
  
He smiled comfortingly. "The professors and I will take care of that. We'll let you talk to them as soon as possible. Now go on, we're going to need to start doing some warm-ups so you can keep your powers under control."  
  
Maeve looked at him in disbelief. Exercises this early in the morning? He read her thoughts again.  
  
"Yes, it is early, but it's the best time to start," he said. She felt a small blush rising up on her cheeks, and hoped that he wouldn't be doing that too often. "Now go on and get ready for the day. You should find your suit hanging in your closet, if Ororo put it there correctly."  
  
She stood up and went back to her room to go shower and look for her suit, although she had no idea what he was talking about. Why was she going to need a suit? Either way, a near boiling-hot shower sounded nice, she decided as she walked up the stairs.  
  
Xavier watched her leave and then turned around and massaged his temple. It's even worse than I thought. 


	3. I Think I'm On the Edge

Maeve was running around, dodging flying objects that were thrown at her. The Professor had dimmed the lights as to give her some shadow to work with. She dodged a few, not using very good agility.  
  
"Speed it up, Maeve," Wolverine said over the intercom.  
  
She sighed angrily and ran faster. A large metal disc with spikes on it hurtled at her, and she punched her fist in its direction. A looming shadow from behind her shot out and crushed it to shards of glittering iron dust. She kept running, and suddenly stopped. The stimulator had created the image of a rather mutant in a spandex suit (she cringed) with silver- looking hair that was swept back on either side.  
  
"He's just a stimulation. Don't be afraid of him." Xavier said over the intercom, and she clenched her fists. He ran towards her faster than she had expected him to. . . much faster. In fact, she had barely caught a glimpse of him before he came up to her and pushed her off her feet. She gasped and fell hard onto her back, wincing.  
  
"I thought you said not to be afraid of them," she growled.  
  
"I did." Xavier chuckled to himself.  
  
Maeve stood to her feet as quickly as she could, and staggered back. The boy knocked her over again, and she grabbed his ankle and pulled him down with her. Using the shadow from behind, she wrapped him up in darkness, and he collapsed to the ground, trying to get out of his binding. Maeve heaved a sigh of relief, but then moaned when two other 'holograms'-yeah, right- formed where he used to stand.  
  
Finally, to her relief, Professor Xavier got on the intercom. "That's good enough, Maeve, come on out."  
  
Tired and sore, she stumbled out of the large steel dome they had been in, and they gave her the holo-watch she was supposed to be using. They briefly explained it to her and she tried it on. As soon as she pressed the button, her horns, wings, pointy ears and tail disappeared. She quickly thanked them and went straight up to go collapse onto her bed. The professors watched after her until the steel door automatically slid shut behind her, and then turned back around.  
  
"What did you find out about her?" Logan asked immediately to Xavier, about when he looked into Maeve's mind.  
  
The professor shook his head. "She has a mild case of schizophrenia and she has suicidal tendencies. If we want to get her completely healed, it's going to take a while for the training and analysis to be completed."  
  
"Did you find out a cause for all of this?" Ororo asked, folding her arms.  
  
Xavier sighed and raised his eyebrows. "Well, it could either be something she was just born with, or have something to do with the fact that she thinks the death of her best friend is all her fault. In short, the police were following Maeve and a stray bullet hit her friend Riley in the back and killed her."  
  
Ororo looked sympathetic. "That's terrible. Do you think we should talk to her about it? You know, help her realize that it's not completely her fault?"  
  
Logan shook his head. "We shouldn't do it yet. She's still pretty beat up about it and I doubt she'll even want to talk for a long time."  
  
"I agree with Logan," Xavier said. "What we need to work on right now is trying to get rid of her blood drinking habits."  
  
Logan snorted. "And just how do you expect us to do that?"  
  
The professor raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Ketchup. . .?"  
  
+ + +  
  
"What?" Maeve exclaimed, almost angrily. She had just been woken up and wasn't in the best mood to begin with, and now they had suggested the most ridiculous idea she had ever heard of.  
  
Ororo was trying to explain to her what their theory on ketchup had been. "Just try it for me, alright Maeve? Whenever you feel like you need some blood, go get some French Fries or something with ketchup on it. If it doesn't work, just tell me and we'll think of something else."  
  
She was about to protest, but Ororo quickly walked out the door and shut it behind her. She heard something smash up against it, probably another picture frame. Logan was waiting for Ororo outside.  
  
"How'd it go?"  
  
She sighed and folded her arms. "That girl might as well be the bringer of death."  
  
The door opened and Maeve stood there, glaring at the both of them. She had obviously heard her comment. They stood silently for a minute, before she went down the stairs and stood looking out one of the windows.  
  
"Damn it," Ororo mumbled, hanging her head.  
  
+ + +  
  
Xavier found her standing by the window. He wheeled his chair over behind her, and she flicked her eyes at him but didn't say anything. She turned back to the window and he could tell that she was angry about something. Finally, he spoke. "Maeve, how would you like to see your parents?"  
  
She spun around quickly, and saw her mom and dad standing behind him with smiles on their faces. "Maeve," they both said, and they ran to each other. They grabbed her in a hug, and she hugged back tightly.  
  
"We were so worried. . . why didn't you call us sooner?"  
  
Xavier laughed. "We couldn't even get her talking until a few days ago, actually." Her father chuckled and put a firm hand on her shoulder. The Professor rested his elbows on the arms of his wheelchair and folded his hands. "But, I believe we have a lot to talk about."  
  
The conference with her parents went all right, considering she had to talk about what had happened with Riley. She was buried a few days ago, and Maeve had missed the funeral. She doubted that she would have been able to go any way, feeling as guilty as she did. They also said that there had been search parties out for Maeve, even rewards for her finding. When they had received the phone call from Xavier, they had thought it to be a ransom thief calling, but he explained politely exactly what the institute was and offered for them to come down to see her. It had taken a while to convince them that their daughter was unharmed, but they finally agreed to come, threatening that if they didn't have her safe, they would call the cops right away. And, strangely enough, everything worked out in the end.  
  
Xavier smiled. "We're inviting her to stay here with us to learn to keep her powers under control and use them for the good. Of course, it is entirely up to her if she wishes to stay or not. Nobody except us would know that she is a mutant, although the government does know that the school exists."  
  
Her parents turned to her. "Well, Maeve, would you like to stay?"  
  
She opened her mouth to say that she just wanted to go home, but then she realized that by doing so, she wouldn't be able to do anything because they police would be on her tail for the murder of the one policeman. After a moment, she slowly nodded her head yes, and received three smiles in return.  
  
+ + +  
  
It was a very dark, dreary day. Her parents had gone back home to get her things packed, assuring her that she should just stay here for the time being instead of going back. She realized why; it would probably awaken some memories she didn't want to think of. They would have had to drive by Riley's house to get to hers, and it would just be for the worse. She stood once more, looking out the same window. The glass was stained with raindrops and every once in a while the thunder would roll, but the storm wasn't close enough to see any lightning. In her opinion, that kind of weather was the best kind. She looked at the large grandfather clock against the far wall. It was a quarter after two; she had maybe five minutes before the other students got home.  
  
Deciding to take a chance, she glanced over her shoulder for the professors, but they weren't anywhere in sight. She slowly pushed the door open and walked out into the rain. She stood under the ledge for a moment, looking up at the sky. The rain falling and the occasional roll of thunder were like listening to a symphony to her. Finally, she looked around for any spying professors, and ran out into the rain. She just stood there for a minute, taking it all up, until she spread her arms out and lifted her head to the sky. She shut her eyes and the water ran down her face onto her neck, soaking her through and through. Then she started spinning around, faster and faster.  
  
She heard the sound of a car door slamming shut, and she opened her eyes. She was dizzy momentarily, but then she realized that she had spun halfway across the lawn, and was now almost amongst the trees near the opposite side of the yard she had started at. She looked for the source of the noise, and saw Scott's car in the driveway. The students were all running inside, Jean was mumbling about having to blow dry her hair again. She watched as the students quickly made their way into the house. Shortly after, Kitty's ride showed up and she ran in holding her jacket over her head to keep herself dry. After she had made sure that they were all gone and recounted in her head to make sure no more students were coming. She stood there for a moment, just getting wetter and wetter, until she finally started spinning.  
  
She was surprised she didn't trip at all, and she eventually stopped and just stood there with her arms open, looking up at the sky. Her hair was dripping wet, and she didn't know why, but she always got the strangest satisfaction knowing that her hair was dripping raindrops. It didn't matter if it was pool water of from a hose, it was just if they were raindrops. And it was at times like this, when she was alone except for the thunder and the rain. It was at times like this that she felt almost. . .happy.  
  
"You like the rain too, ja?"  
  
It was that unmistakable German accent. Maeve whirled around and saw Kurt standing behind her, just as soaking wet as she was. He had a broad smile on his face and he was breathing pretty hard; he had probably actually been running in the rain. She didn't say anything, but just kept looking at him as he stood next to her.  
  
"I have always loved it. In Germany, there were hills that I used to run around on when it was raining. It was so fun because they would flood, and if you fell you would just end up in a little pond and get wet all over again." He smiled at the memory and looked back at her. She was staring at him with an unreadable expression. "I'm sorry that I'm going on and on," he laughed, "I don't know why I'm telling you all of this."  
  
She shook her head and said bluntly. "I don't either." She was hoping to get the point across that she didn't really care too much.  
  
Kurt opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He flicked his eyes to the ground and then looked back at her. "Sorry," he mumbled, and then teleported away.  
  
It suddenly seemed darker and colder outside after he disappeared, and she shivered. She stood there for a moment until lightning struck close behind her, and she decided she had better get inside. She walked to the landing and took her shoes off, then went inside and trudged up the stairs, leaving tiny puddles of rain water behind her.  
  
When she turned the corner, she bumped into Evan-literally-and he noticed that she was wet. Smiling, he asked, "Playing in the rain?"  
  
She realized how stupid it sounded, now that she thought of it, and looked at the ground. "Something like that," she mumbled, and he laughed pleasantly. She kept walking and walked into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. Her black eyeliner had run down her face, and she looked paler than ever. Shedding her soaked clothes onto a pile on the floor, she stepped into the shower for the second time that day.  
  
It didn't occur to her that she hadn't even brought any clean clothes to change into until she he already gotten out. And she had walked into the bathroom separate from the one attached to her room-hey, it was nicer-so she'd have to travel across the mansion in just a towel. Great. She took her wet clothes and hung them over the shower in an attempt to stall, and then opened the door and poked her head out. She was about halfway down the hall before she heard Rogue's voice and froze.  
  
"Uh, I realize you're indecent right now, but d'ya wanna go into town with us tonight?"  
  
She slowly turned around and saw that thankfully, Rogue was the only one there. "Who all is going with you?" she asked, clutching onto her towel.  
  
Rogue shrugged. "Everyone. I normally wouldn't even think about going but it's rainy out and there's nothing to do, so it's kind of a lose-lose situation."  
  
No, I don't want to go. But you have a point, she thought. "Uh, sure. When?"  
  
"Just be ready by five. You'll know when we're leaving."  
  
Maeve nodded and turned around, dying to get out of just a towel and put some real clothes on. She had been in the same clothes since she had gotten there. Thankfully, her parents had gotten her stuff to her earlier that day, so she had something new to wear. She grabbed a black tank top that said 'The Early November'-a band she liked-and some black boy's shorts that came down to her calves. She looked down at her bandage on her left arm, and figured that showing off her cutting wouldn't exactly be something to be proud of. Digging around in her belongings, she came across a red and black striped arm warmer with the fingers cut out, and she put one on. The bandages could barely be seen over the top unless it started to slip down.  
  
Heaving a sigh, she fell back down onto her bed, and was surprised that she was actually wondering where they would be going that night.  
  
+ + +  
  
They ended up going to some kind of dance club, all crammed into Scott's car. Maeve sat with Rogue on the way there, and they were both surprised that they found someone they could actually talk to. Maeve was even more surprised that she actually liked Rogue; she had the thought stuck in her head that she wouldn't be able to get along with anyone here, but apparently she could. As they rolled to a stop, Kurt, who was in the front seat, leaped out of the open window. He was obviously a little more enthusiastic than the others were.  
  
Inside, they found that it was very spacious, and they were playing techno/dance music nearly on full blast. As soon as they got in, Kitty ran onto the dance floor and two or three guys immediately started dancing with her.  
  
Maeve raised her eyebrows. "That must take skill."  
  
Rogue swatted her hand dismissively. "Nah, just a short skirt and a non- existent top," she said. She was right though, Kitty's skirt was rather short, and her shirt was even less 'there'. But apparently it was working; she did have three guys around her. Oh, wait. Okay, make it four guys.  
  
Jean and Scott were dancing, and they were surprised to see that he was a fairly good dancer. Evan was walking around with his video camera, taping random girls and getting quite a bit of attention for it. Kurt was off to the side with two girls talking to him, and he seemed to be enjoying himself. Maeve and Rogue were being wallflowers, until a tall guy with blue liberty spikes came and asked Rogue to dance. She looked at Maeve, asking if it was alright, and she just nodded her off. When she left, she looked around for the nearest place she could get something to drink. Or some ketchup. Looking around, she saw a vending machine, and her only other option was the bar. Being under twenty-one, she decided that she had a better chance with getting Mountain Dew rather than alcohol from a bar tender.  
  
She walked over to the vending machine and pulled a dollar out of her pocket. She put it in, pressed a button and waited, but nothing happened. She pressed the button again, and again and again and again. Still, nothing happened.  
  
"Freakin' machine ate my dollar," she mumbled to herself angrily. She hit it a couple times, and then sighed. "Dammit!"  
  
"Here, let me help."  
  
She turned around and saw a tall muscular guy, with brown hair cut just above his shoulders. He looked around him to see if anyone was looking, and then pressed his hand up against the vending machine. As soon as he did this, a small tremor occured and the Mountain Dew rolled out. He picked it up and handed it to her, a coy smile on his face.  
  
"I'm Lance," he said, and she caught the Mountain Dew with two hands.  
  
"How did you do that?" she asked, eyes wide.  
  
He snorted, his smile still on his lips. "I'm a mutant too, Maeve."  
  
She noticed how he had used the word 'too', and her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Did she even know this guy personally? She had never met him before now, and he didn't go to the institute... how did he have any idea who she was, let alone that she was a mutant. She just looked at him, words failing her.  
  
Lance smiled. "It's okay, don't look so surprised. I've known about you for a while. Everyone at the brotherhood has."  
  
She raised an eyebrow. "The brotherhood?" she repeated skeptically.  
  
"Yeah, it's like Xavier's Institute, except a lot more run down, shall we say. There's nothing to be afraid of." He explained. She slowly nodded, not really understanding. He sighed again. "Aw, I'm sorry if I scared you, I didn't mean to. Here, come dance with me."  
  
She nearly choked. "Dance?" she repeated. She seemed even more skeptical of the idea of her dancing over the fact that he was a mutant.  
  
He laughed a nice, rich laugh, and she felt herself feel lightheaded. "What, you don't dance or something?" he asked her.  
  
"No, it's just. . ."  
  
"Well come on then!" He grabbed her by the hand and she felt like she was about to have a heart attack. He took her out onto the dance floor and she was surprised that in seconds, they were dancing together. She turned her back to him and he put her hands on his hips, and she realized just how fast her heart was beating. Turning back around, he asked her something, but she couldn't hear over the music.  
  
"What?" she shouted.  
  
He put his face closer to her ear, and she felt his breath on her neck. She shivered, and hoped he didn't notice, but she soon shook it away. "I asked you how old you were," he replied just as loudly.  
  
"Sixteen. How old are you?" she asked. The thought of how old he was never even crossed her mind. See, it's stupid, Maeve. You don't know anything about him and you're getting all giggling school-girl for him. He's probably like twenty-one.  
  
"I'm seventeen."  
  
Seventeen!-her inner girly voice squealed-he's only seventeen!  
  
Shut up.  
  
Look at him. You so want him.  
  
I do not, I just met him! I'm not the slutty one-night-stand type.  
  
That's why you're blushing, right?  
  
Shit! I am? Oh God I hope he isn't noticing. Erm, I mean-  
  
Ha! Told you! You think he's gooooorgeous. You want to daaaaate him. You  
want to kiiiiiiss him. You want to hooooooold him.  
  
What? Please no!  
  
Lance was looking at her strangely, and she looked up with him. He laughed, and she hoped that he didn't notice how horribly she was blushing. She turned around again and kept dancing as she was earler, as an excuse to look at something else. But as soon as his hands moved from her hips down to her thighs and she felt him leaning back, she was sure the blush returned.  
  
Sweet Jesus, I'm giving him a freaking lap dance. What the hell is wrong with me!?  
  
What do you think, genius? You think he's gooooorgeous. You want to daaaaate him. You want to kiiiiiiss him. You want to hooooooold him. You want to fu-  
  
Ah! Shut the hell up! That's...ahhhh don't say that!  
  
She looked around, hoping that none of the other Xavier students were watching. Rogue was too busy dancing to notice, Kitty was too busy flirting with three guys to notice. Jean and Scott were... well they were busy. Evan was still video taping, good. And Kurt was... oh God, where was Kurt? She spun her head around, and prayed to God that he wasn't looking.  
  
Ugh, God must really hate me.  
  
He was standing against the wall, staring at her with a drink in his hand. She looked back at him, feeling nothing less than embarrassed by the fact that she was dancing like some kind of hoochie. The two girls he had been talking with earlier walked back to him, carrying plastic-bottled drinks in hand. They looked at him strangely and followed his blank stare over to Maeve and Lance. She let out something that sounded like a gasp and turned her head back around. Thankfully, Lance's back was to them and he was big enough to shield her, so she was out of sight from them.  
  
She turned back around to face Lance and realized that they were slowly stepping back around, and she was in Kurt's view again. He wasn't looking at her for the time being, and she relaxed. He leaned down to her again and shouted, "I thought you said you don't dance."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You're not bad at all. In fact, you're quite good."  
  
She felt that stupid blush rising to her face again, and smiled nervously. As soon as she did, she got a surprised look on her face. She hadn't done that at all since what had happened at the mall, a few weeks ago. Lance caught on to what she was thinking and lowered his head again.  
  
"You don't smile much, do you?"  
  
She felt it creep back up to her face, and she shrugged. "For some reason I am now," she said. As soon as she said it, she wanted to kick herself into the face.  
  
God, he's gonna think you're coming on to him or something!  
  
Well, aren't you?  
  
Blow me.  
  
Still, she found that her smile wouldn't fade. She looked up at the cieling, all the colored lights; everything. And she was still smiling. Evan found Kurt and walked over to him.  
  
"Hey man, having fun?"  
  
Kurt didn't say anything. He just kept looking at Maeve and Lance, and Evan tried to see what he was looking at. As soon as he saw her, his jaw dropped. "Dude, is she. . . smiling?"  
  
"Yeah," he said, "And look who she's with."  
  
He looked hard for a while, and finally saw who it was. "Why is she with Lance?"  
  
Kurt shrugged. "I don't know. I've been wondering the same thing."  
  
"Damn, she's getting freaky isn't she?" The hormonally-challenged boy couldn't help himself as he zoomed in with his video camera.  
  
"Evan!" Kurt exclaimed angrily. He seemed to be the only one that was concerned with the fact that Lance wasn't a very trustable person. Or that it was one of their fellow students he was probably trying to brainwash like he had Kitty.  
  
Evan "Oh, sorry. So. . . you're keeping an eye on her?" he asked, switching his camera off. Kurt nodded again, and he did too. "Alright, tell me if anything goes wrong. I'm so ready to kick that guy's ass."  
  
"Right," he said, less than enthusiastically and Evan left. He watched the two for a long time, never taking his eyes off of them. He was ready to jump on him, just like Evan was. But what he couldn't understand was what Lance was doing to her that made her smile. Or maybe he didn't even want to know. Still, he found himself to be staring for most of the night.  
  
The song ended and Maeve turned back around to him, out of breath. She was still smiling, Kurt noticed. She finally spoke when she felt she could breathe again. "That was. . . interesting."  
  
"Yeah," Lance agreed, and leaned over and kissed her. Kurt went rigid. He clenched his empty pop can so tightly that it crushed in his grasp. She was kissing a player. He was just out to get some action, and he had no doubt that he was going to use Maeve so he could get in her pants and then leave her high and dry.  
  
He pulled away and smiled down at her, and Kurt held his breath, watching intently. She looked back up at him and snaked her arm around his neck, and he kissed her again. Kurt made a frustrated noise and flopped back in his seat. She was falling into his trap, and he only oped that she would be leaving with the rest of the X Men tonight, not with him.  
  
Kurt sighed. "Watch yourself, Maeve." The last thing she needed, after being as suicidal as she was, was for some guy to play her. That would probably drive her right off the edge. 


	4. That One Chick Band

A/N: just to let you all know, by the time my next chapter is up, the story name will be changed to Das Lächeln. Oh yeah, and as for the disclaimer that I always forget to put in stories: 'X men' is not mine, blah blah blah. However, Maeve, Gwen, Jake, and other random people are. So don't use them without asking.  
  
+ + +  
  
Back in the car, she had remained as silent as usual. Like nothing had ever even happened. Rogue finally asked her if she had a good time.  
  
That would be one way to put it, Kurt thought. He was sitting next to her right, but he kept his gaze to his left on the city lights as they drove back to the mansion.  
  
"Yeah, I guess. You?"  
  
Rogue nodded and smiled, and Maeve knew she was thinking about the boy with the blue liberty spikes. "Yeah," she finally answered. They drove in silence, and Kurt glanced at Maeve out of the corner of his eye. She was looking down at her arm where she was wearing some kind of... arm warmer or something, and she was tracing her fingers along it where her cuts were. He briefly studied her face before turning back to the window.  
  
+ + +  
  
Maeve started school two days later, and Rogue finally had someone to sit with at lunch. They sat apart from the other X Men, who laughed loudly and talked like they didn't have a care in the world. Even Kurt was back to his old self and making everyone laugh their selves red. Rogue looked across the room at Jean 'Miss Perfect' Gray. Scott was sitting next to her with his arm around her shoulders, and every now and then he would finger her long fiery hair. Rogue snorted, resting her cheek on her fist.  
  
A second later, two boys walked by their table and stood by Rogue: it was Scott's so-called friend Paul. He seemed to be interested in nothing other than making Rogue's life a living hell.  
  
"Well, I see that you've found yourself a new girlfriend here," he said to her. He turned to Maeve with an arrogant smirk. "So how long have you guys been together now?"  
  
She narrowed her eyes at him and clenched her fists. Rogue glanced under the table and saw that she was obliviously making its shadow start to move. She stepped on her foot, breaking her concentration. The table's shadow stopped moving and fell back into place.  
  
Paul snorted. "Look, the dyke can't even speak. Are you mute or something?"  
  
Words failed her as their taunting faces and laughter surrounded them. She saw Scott and Kurt stand up out of the corner of her eye, but before they did anything she felt a strong hand on her shoulder. She looked behind her, a little startled, and saw Lance. Paul and his goons shut up, looking nothing less than surprised.  
  
"She's not a dyke. You know why? Because she's my girlfriend," he spat. Maeve felt her face go red. So she *was* his girlfriend. All right, so you learn something new every day. . .  
  
Lance was still talking. "So I'd get your sorry, skinny little selves out of here before I beat your Asses. Got it?"  
  
The three guys exchanged glances, mumbled something and walked away looking at him with narrowed eyes. Rogue was too shocked to speak, and the other Xavier students were staring at them too. She couldn't blame them: since when was Maeve Lance's girlfriend? She just sat there, unable to speak because of all the eyes on them. Finally, he just leaned down to her and winked, and then left. As soon as he was gone, she wanted to bang her head on the table a few times.  
  
Jean turned to Kitty, looking a little confused. "Did anyone else hear that?"  
  
She nodded. "Like, unfortunately."  
  
"Do you think he meant it?" Scott asked, resting his elbows on the table and leaning forward. Evan took out his video camera and rewound it to the stuff he had recorded at the dance club.  
  
"Well, it seems they are," he said, tapping the screen. It was where Lance and Maeve were dancing rather. . . suggestively. Kurt turned his head away and frowned at the floor.  
  
"Oh my God!" Kitty exclaimed. "I guess that like, answers our question."  
  
They were surprised that she didn't react differently to it. She and Lance had some kind of fling going on for a while, but everything went wrong when he chose the Brotherhood over her. She had locked herself in her room for two days, only leaving when she had to, and she'd do that by phasing through walls as a silent escape. Then, she was over it, but talking about it still got on her nerves. They supposed that this new Brad character that she had been continuously talking about had something to do with it.  
  
Jean flipped her red hair over her shoulder. "Well, now that the little vampire's gotten herself into some trouble, I guess that means we have to look out for her."  
  
Pretty much everyone at the table heaved a sigh.  
  
+ + +  
  
The school day was finally over, finally. Maeve was back at her locker, having some trouble with opening it as usual. She put the combination in for the third time, and pulled on the lock. Nothing. "Argh!" she growled, pounding her fist against it in frustration. As soon as she hit it, it slowly swung open and she stared at it in disbelief.  
  
"Ah, the top-of-the-line lockers and other luxuries of Bayville High." Lance leaned up against the locker next to hers, and she nearly jumped. She felt her face go red and she reached far into her locker, hiding her face behind the door.  
  
"Hey," she mumbled, pretending to be searching for something.  
  
He moved out of the way to let some kid into their locker, but not without a quick glare. "Hey listen, I've been talking to the guys and they all say they want to meet you."  
  
"Who are 'the guys'?" she asked, finally taking her face out of her locker. She switched her Chemistry textbook from her right arm to her left and shut the door again.  
  
"Oh, you know," he sighed dismissively, "Todd, Pietro, Tabitha. . . well I guess she's not really a guy, but you get the picture."  
  
She looked thoughtful. "The Brotherhood?"  
  
"Yeah, that would be the easier way of saying it." He flashed her a million- dollar smile. Maeve bit her lip. Hadn't she overheard some of Xavier's other students talking about how they weren't supposed to hang around with them? She finally sighed.  
  
"Hey, um, why don't I get back to you on that? I've had a whole lot of homework lately and-"  
  
His expression clouded over. "What, you don't trust me? Is that it?"  
  
She looked shocked momentarily. "N-no, that's not it at all, it's just that I've been really busy and everything with school and stuff. I've had a lot of makeup work to do."  
  
"Do you trust me?" she saw something flicker in his eyes.  
  
She paused, looking a little surprised. Of course she trusted him. "Yeah. . ."  
  
He smirked. "Then there shouldn't be a problem then, huh?"  
  
"Well-"  
  
Maeve was cut off again as he laughed and put his hand on the top of her head (He was, pretty much, towering over her.) "You're cute, you know that?" he said, and ruffled her hair. She wondered if he would think that after his hand hit one of the horns on her head and was sliced open. She was about to warn him, but he handed her a piece of paper.  
  
"I gotta go, I'll be late to my detention. Here's the address, be there soon, okay?" he leaned over and kissed her briefly, and she felt a hot flash coming on, but she managed to steady herself.  
  
"Okay. . ." she barely got out, but he was already gone. She looked down at the semi-crumpled piece of paper and unfolded it. She went to the doors, her black Chuck Taylors squeaking on the linoleum as she walked. When she got outside, she saw Rogue sitting on the hood of a black convertible. She was talking with a girl with shoulder length black hair and bondage pants in matching color, and a white wife beater. The car looked a little old and in less-than-perfect condition, but either way, Maeve dropped her book in surprise and it fell down the cement stairs.  
  
Rogue smirked and her friend burst out laughing. "Need a ride?"  
  
She pointed at the car she was sitting on. ". . .where. . .?" she finally managed to say.  
  
"Just got it yesterday. It's a little rusty, as you can tell, but hey it's black. And you know me." Rogue said, shaking her head to get the hair out of her eyes.  
  
Maeve walked down the steps, picked up her book and ran down to the car. "That is so kick ass, Rogue." She put her hand on the hood and walked around it in a complete circle. She wasn't usually one for cars (therefore she had no idea what kind of car it was other than a convertible.) But this one was right here in front of her for her to touch and maybe drive. And Rogue was right: it was black.  
  
"Ah, Maeve this is Gwen. Gwen, Maeve. Maeve, Gwen." She introduced them to one another.  
  
The black-haired girl smiled at her and waved. "Hey Maeve."  
  
"Word." she said, flashing a random gang sign and they laughed.  
  
Rogue flipped her hair again. "Now that you've met, how about we get the hell out of here. I'm starving; school food is not sanitary enough to eat."  
  
Gwen looked horrified. "Dude, I know! Let's get out of here."  
  
They all climbed into Rogue's new car-Maeve sat in back-and they made their way over to an Arby's drive-thru. They each got an order of fries and a drink, and then set off again. They just drove around for a while with the hood down, talking about who knows what and listening to the Something Corporate CD (Audio Boxer). Gwen had been singing along rather loudly, and received several comments that she was a good singer. Rogue turned down the music and looked at Maeve through the rearview mirror.  
  
"Hey, what's going on with you and Lance, any way?"  
  
Gwen's eyes widened and she whirled around in her seat. "You and Lance Alvers?" she emphasized his name, and they couldn't tell if it was excitement or just plain shock.  
  
She just stared at them, and at length, she shrugged. "I don't really know. He doesn't seem to want to tell me much."  
  
Rogue snorted. "Sounds like him," she said, and Gwen laughed with her. Maeve didn't say anything, and she looked back at her through the mirror again. "Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you mad or anything."  
  
She seemed to snap out of some kind of trance. "Oh, no, you didn't piss me off. I was just thinking," she looked across the street at a Music store and continued, "We should start a band. I haven't played my set since I moved out." She shoved another fry in her mouth, being sure to load it with extra ketchup. Cravings? What cravings?  
  
The two in the front seat exchanged awestruck glances. "You mean you play the drums?" Gwen exclaimed, turning around in her seat again.  
  
She paused, looking around. "That's. . .what I just said," she laughed.  
  
"Dude! Rogue and I have been trying to start a band for a year. I play guitar and she plays a little bass. Of course we haven't practiced at all for ages because we kind of gave up on finding a decent drummer, and we're about as rusty as this ride is. . ."  
  
"Hey," Rogue said warningly, "You can get out and walk, sugar."  
  
Gwen rolled her eyes. "My point is," she glared back at her, "that you should be in our band."  
  
"Does it have a name?" Maeve seemed skeptical.  
  
They turned to each other with proud smiles. "Lillith!" they said simultaneously they pulled up to Gwen's house and Rogue slowed to a stop.  
  
Maeve nodded, and smiled. "Count me in."  
  
"Ace!" Gwen exclaimed, and she and Rogue did some kind of secret handshake. Maeve had to admit; she had never seen Rogue acting so enthusiastically.  
  
The black-haired girl climbed out of the car. "Can you guys come over tomorrow? I should have my amp and stuff back from Allie by then."  
  
Whoever Allie was.  
  
"Sure. See you then," Rogue agreed and they both waved before speeding off. Maeve climbed into the passenger seat and got comfortable.  
  
"She's nice. Does she know about. . .?" she was referring to the fact that they were mutants.  
  
The driver nodded. "Ah, yeah, she found out when I first got here. It was an accident, of course, but she didn't get freaked out or anything. So don't be surprised if she asks to see your wings some day. She's a sucker for things like that."  
  
"How do you think everyone's gonna take to this whole band thing?" Maeve asked, looking at her drink like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Okay, so she was easily amused, so what? "I'm not saying that I'll really care or anything because most of them are stereotyping me any way."  
  
Rogue rolled her eyes. "Jean will probably have a fit and start naming off the 'millions of things that could possibly go wrong'. I think everyone else will probably support us."  
  
She nodded. "Yeah, I do too."  
  
+ + +  
  
"You guys are in a *band*?" Evan almost fell over the back of the couch laughing. He received two death glares in return, but that didn't silence him.  
  
He and Kurt had just heard about the news. Well, to be honest, they had been eavesdropping. They thought the idea of the two 'scary gothic girls' putting forth any kind of enthusiasm to anything was hilarious.  
  
Rogue put her hands on her hips. "Hey, shut up, Porcupine," she spat, "At least we're musically talented enough to even start one. Unlike some dolts I know who just sit around on their tails all day."  
  
Kurt stifled a chortle. "Hey man, no offense but, she's kind of right. We haven't left this couch since we got home."  
  
Evan looked offended. "For your information, I am well rehearsed in music."  
  
"Oh, really. How?" Rogue demanded.  
  
He paused. "Well I was in band in the sixth and seventh grade and I played trumpet. But my friend let me play on his bass guitar a few times!"  
  
Now it was their turn. Maeve and Rogue exchanged glances before Rogue burst out laughing and Maeve just kind of stood there like she always did. Kurt was scratching the back of his neck uneasily. "Dude, it's physically impossible for me to play guitar or bass any way. I only have three fingers. But drums don't look that hard."  
  
Maeve snorted and rolled her eyes. "Have you ever even tried?" "Well, no. . ."  
  
Rogue folded her arms and leaned down. "Well then I wouldn't be making fun of us for actually trying something if I were you."  
  
Evan stood up and nearly knocked heads with her. "What, are you saying we can't do it?"  
  
"And what if I am?" she shot back. "Aren't you supposed to be listening to rap or something?"  
  
Kurt raised his hands. "Uh, guys, I really hate to be the peacemaker in all of this but-"  
  
"Then can it, Elf!" Rogue was on fire.  
  
Kurt glared at her and shoved his hands in his pockets, mumbling something in German.  
  
Evan went on with his master plan. "Well, it just so happens that 88.7 FM is having a battle of the bands about month from now. The audience is the judge. Are you catching my drift?"  
  
"Is that a challenge, little boy?" she narrowed her eyes and seemed to grow a foot taller.  
  
He stepped closer to her so their noses were almost touching. "You bet your entire case of makeup and hair dye it is," he growled.  
  
She glared at him a little longer and then backed off, folding her arms again. "Well then, Maeve, I guess we have to show these wannabes what real music is."  
  
"Fine!" Evan said, and Kurt was folding his arms also.  
  
She and Maeve put their backs to them. "Fine!" they said in sync. The boys turned around too and looked at the ground or the ceiling angrily.  
  
"Wannabes."  
  
"Chick band."  
  
+ + +  
  
Needless to say, Rogue and Maeve didn't speak a word to Kurt or Evan for the next week or so. And neither did they. Lillith was progressing along nicely, or as nicely as a band that had just started could. Maeve had called her parents and told them that she would be coming to retrieve the drum set and set it up in Gwen's garage. And there they practiced, deciding to write and work on just one song so they would have it perfected in time for the battle of the bands. The song had it's own genre, it seemed: Rogue's heavier addition-like Kittie-and Gwen's punk Rancid sound, added to the more Emo sound like the Early November, courtesy of Maeve.  
  
Kurt and Evan had gone on a mad search for a male guitarist around their school, Evan with the drive to win and only to win. Kurt was a little more relaxed about it, and it had resulted in a few arguments. At length, they found a guitarist: sophomore Jake Bryant. He was a bit of a bum, and had no idea about them being mutants, which would make things difficult. But they were so determined to win at the battle that it didn't even matter to them. They became Later That Day, playing music similar to bands such as Third Eye Blind and American Hi-Fi. They had to get Kurt to secretly 'port into Maeve's room to retrieve those two CDs to listen to.  
  
The other students were able to ignore all of their immature bickering, until one evening at the dinner table. Kurt was seated between Evan and, ironically, Rogue. (There was only one empty seat left, and no matter how many times they made everyone get up and move around, she ended up sitting right next to Kurt) Evan cleared his throat.  
  
"Kurt, since I am not speaking to Rogue, can you ask her to pass the salt?"  
  
He didn't say anything, just stared at him with a nervous smile. "Uhm. . ."  
  
Rogue bristled. "Well, since I ain't speaking with Evan, you can tell him that he can wait until I'm done using it."  
  
"You can tell her that she is not using it, because it's sitting at her side."  
  
She clenched her fork with a death grip. "Tell him that I'm going to use it, and I'm going to take my own sweet time, whether he likes it or not!"  
  
Kurt just looked back and forth from them, not really knowing what to do. "Uh, guys?"  
  
"Tell little miss Country Goth that she's been finished with her dinner for ten minutes, and that I doubt her ice cream needs any salt on it!"  
  
Ororo had finally had enough. "Silence! Both of you!" she exclaimed, standing up at her seat. The two bickering students silenced themselves and glared down at their feet angrily. "I don't know what has gotten into either of you, but your constant bickering has got to end. Both of you may be excused."  
  
They looked at her in disbelief for a minute, and then silently left the table. That is, until they started heading up the stairs, then the arguing started up all over again, only louder this time. She heaved a disgusted sigh and put her hand over her face. After a moment, she turned to Maeve.  
  
"Do you have any idea what all this is about?"  
  
She paused, and finally shook her head. "No," she lied. Ororo looked at her for a moment and sighed again, burying her face in her hands.  
  
+ + +  
  
Maeve was sitting in class, drawing and writing lyrics all over her notebook. There was only a week left until the battle of the bands, and they had all been losing a lot of sleep over it for late-night practices. Gwen and Rogue had gotten into a few arguments, but Maeve never really said much. Kind of like always.  
  
The teacher was talking about the Pythagorean theorem and how it was one of his favorite things in Geometry. It was something Maeve couldn't care less about. She couldn't figure out when she'd use this when she 'grew up'. When is a famous rock star going to need to use a hypotenuse or a right or obtuse angled triangle? A tapping on the door interrupted his lecture, and she looked up and saw Lance standing outside. He motioned with his hand for her to come out of the class, and she nodded, trying to be inconspicuous. Deciding to pull the trick she used to do in her old school to get out of class, she started coughing. It was just once, then a pause, and then a few more times. The teacher stopped, gave her a warning look, and then kept talking. A few of her classmates snickered; nobody really liked that guy. Too boring. Another pause followed, and she started hacking uncontrollably.  
  
She raised her hand in between coughs, and the teacher looked irritated. "Yes, Maeve?"  
  
"Can I-hack-please go get some water?"  
  
He heaved a sigh. "Hurry." She nodded and quickly bolted out the door. As soon as she got out and shut the door behind her, she saw Lance a ways down the hall, leaned up against a locker, holding his sides and laughing hard. She made her way over to him, and he finally calmed himself down.  
  
"That was great," he managed to say, and wiped a tear from his eye. "Wanna get out of here?"  
  
She paused. "You mean, skip?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. She had skipped class before, but never actually left the school. He nodded, still smiling.  
  
"Yeah, come on it'll be fun." She didn't say anything, and he looked annoyed. "What, you still don't trust me or something?"  
  
"No, it's just that the battle of the bands thing is coming up and we really needed to practice. We only have about six more days."  
  
He frowned. "Whatever," he mumbled, and walked off. She stared after him as he rounded the corner, not looking back once, and then looked at the ground. Glancing back up, her throat tightened and she returned to her class. 


End file.
